2005’s The Family Stone is another one of those star-studded films about a dysfunctional family gathering that proves outrageously awkward. This one appears to be a total ‘Marmite’ movie - it has legions of devoted fans who adore it, while many critics savaged it for its glaring flaws. I agree that it has a lot of problems but if you can allow your brain to get past those, there is a lot to enjoy here, not least of all the awesome group of actors that director Thomas Bezucha has gathered.
This one intelligently plays around with a familiar formula - in most films like this the new girlfriend comes to meet her new fella’s family for the holiday and slowly, gradually wins them over after getting off on the wrong foot. Here, Sarah Jessica Parker is the uptight city bitch Meredith, who attempts to charm the hearts of hunky Everett (Dermot Mulroney)’s family, the Stones of the film’s title, but only succeeds in making them hate her more. There’s a lot of opportunity for comedy, with uptight Meredith inadvertently offending everyone with her misguided views on homosexuals and race, much to the horror of Everett’s deaf gay brother and his African-American lover. Elsewhere, her insistence that she and Everett sleep in separate beds - a bid to impress his mother (Diane Keaton) and dad (Craig T Nelson) horribly backfires, as this means volatile, brassy sister Amy (Rachel McAdams) has to sleep on the sofa, pissing everyone off. You can sort of see what Meredith is trying to do but she acts like such an ignorant bitch that it’s really difficult to understand what drew reasonable, pleasant Everett to her in the first place. It really makes no sense for these two to be together, other than it will lead to some humorous awkwardness which, honestly, is fine by me.
There are laughs to be had as Meredith butts heads with the family that also includes a career-best Luke Wilson as cool, laid-back brother Ben, who may be the only one who gets her. Elsewhere, Everett is immediately smitten by Meredith’s much more agreeable sister Julie (Claire Danes) who shows up to lend some moral support. It becomes very hard to root for this guy who instantly falls in love with his girlfriend’s sister and then hits on her after one conversation. The film acts like this is all romantic, but it really isn’t. It’s icky and wrong.
The dialogue at times is excellent and feels very natural, with the talented cast batting choice zingers back and forth. The afore-mentioned dinner party scene where Meredith makes her LGBT faux pas is a real highlight, as is the hideously uncomfortable climax where the horrible truth all comes out. So, it’s a shame that the plot feels so contrived, the tone lurching from comedy to melodrama jarringly. Still, credit to them for creating something that, though not necessarily believable, is very distinctive from the usual Christmas family comedy. For all its faults, this one still doesn’t feel as phoney as so many of these films can be, as it’s refreshing to see the absolute hate that can spill over at these family holiday gatherings. Even if this one does eventually give in and gives us a sort-of mega happy, tying-up-all-the-loose-ends ending.
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